Complicated Love
by Faded-Faith
Summary: We all know what happened when Rinoa fell into a coma. What happens when the situations are reversed? Chapter 5 finally up! R & R.
1. Chapter 1

****

It had been almost 3 weeks now, far too long.

Squall Leonhart wore his usual frown as he stared out of the open window in his new, much larger, room which gave him a picturesque view of Balamb, the sea gently crashing against the soft sand, long, luscious green grass swaying gently in the warm breeze and the sun burning brightly in the cloudless, clear blue sky. Most people would have loved the view, or at least have appreciated having such a nice one, but to Squall it probably wouldn't have made much difference if he was staring out into the rear end of an Ochu, he wasn't paying much attention to the view anyway. He rarely did. He was always too deep in his own thoughts, just as he was now.

'_Why was it taking so long, is it really that hard a decision to make? It's either 'Yes' or 'No'_. _I suppose you do need a certain amount of time to think, a few days, a week at the most, but this was just getting ridiculous.'_

"3 weeks. _3 whole weeks!" _he moaned in his frustration.

'_Maybe I should just take it all back,'_ he thought to himself, _'maybe it was just one huge mistake, I never should have asked her in the first place. How could I have been stupid as to think that someone as amazing, beautiful and desired as her would ever want to spend the rest of her life with...me'_

He knew, in his heartthat Rinoa loved him. Ever since he met Rinoa he knew she was special, and he was right. Without her he would still be similar to the nothingness he was 4 years ago on the night of his graduation.

The changes she brought to his life were part of the reason he loved her. He remembered saying those three little words to her just before he proposed; he had to tell her, so that he knew it was right, so that he would know if she felt the same way and partly to save himself any embarrassment of being refused when he proposed. If she hadn't have said I love you back, then he wouldn't have proposed and he would probably have ended their relationship then and there, but now he knew, they were meant for each other.

'_Then why was it taking so long?! It's not as if…..'_

A loud knock on the door interrupted his train of thought. Dammit. He really didn't need this right now.

"Heeeey!!! Squall open up! I _know_ you're there! We gotta go to Deling, remember?!"

He sighed heavily as he ran a hand through his hair. He had completely forgotten about the shopping trip he had planned with Selphie. He could just ignore it, but he had to buy Zell his birthday present. Dammit. Why did it have to be today? He was under too much pressure right now; promoted from commander to the new headmaster of Balamb; proposing to Rinoa; he had to organise the next SeeD field exam and on top of that there was the graduation party! But he could probably persuade Selphie to do it, either that or Selphie would persuade him to let her do it.

"C'mon! Open up!" Selphie yelled from the other side of the locked door.

"Alright, alright. I'm coming."

"HURRY UP!!!!"

"....Whatever."

He opened the door as slowly as he could; he didn't particularly enjoy these little outings with Selphie, ever since her new found love of caffeine.

The moment he stepped outside Selphie grabbed him by the wrist and began to drag him down the hallway, barely giving him time to grab the door handle and yank it shut.

"C'mon Squall! The train is leaving in 10 minutes from Balamb station, we gotta run!!!"

"You're hurting my wrist."

"If I don't we're not gonna get there in time!!!"

'_Who knew someone so small could run so fast?'_

"HEEEEY!!!! WAIT FOR US MR. TRAIN MAN!!!" Selphie yelled, literally seconds before the conductor blew his whistle, but sparing just enough time for Squall to be embarrassed by the disapproving stares of every person within 30 feet of them.

* * *

Rinoa sprinted towards the lift in which Xu was standing. 

Xu was about to close the doors, when she heard a familiar voice call after her. "Hey Xu! Do you have any idea where Quistis is?"

"Oh, hey Rin!" She struggled to hold the almost closed doors open while Rinoa ran up the short flight of stairs to reach her.

"Oh, it's not that important, it's just that I needed her advice on something and I've looked _everywhere_, seriously! She's not in her room, cafeteria or even anywhere in Garden! Her phone is switched off and I don't even remember seeing her yesterday!"

"Oh, well I know I shouldn't really be gossiping but I heard that she's with this totally hot guy! Intellectual too! Should be a perfect match, huh? Well anyway she could be with him."

"Oh, Ok, thanks Xu."

"Rinoa, It's not anything I can help you with, is it?"

"No, it's not that important anyway, but if you see Quistis when she gets back from her make-out session then ask her to come find me 'kay?"

"Sure, see ya!"

"Bye."

Rinoa sighed, she may not have made it out to be a big deal to Xu, but it would be one of the biggest decisions of her life. She might get _engaged_, for Hyne's sake! But all Quistis was worried about was how long she could sneak away with this 'hot, intellectual guy' for. Though, Rinoa couldn't blame her for not being there to discuss Squall's proposal, since she didn't even know about it, but that wasn't the point! She needed someone _now!!!_

Who else was she supposed to talk to? Selphie had been out shopping with Squall for a few hours now, no doubt she was high on caffeine now, and Squall would be cursing himself for not having a stop spell. Irvine would be absolutely no good whatsoever for advice on serious relationships, since the furthest he had probably gotten with any girl (excluding Selphie) was a slap in the face for the use of some dumb chat up line. Of course, there was always Zell, Rinoa didn't know a whole lot about his relationship history, but he seemed to be her only option right now and he was pretty good at the whole advice thing.

Sure enough, when she turned the corner, she was almost knocked out by him throwing punches at an imaginary person.

"Oh, hey Rin! Sorry, didn't see ya there. S'up?"

"Erm… well I kinda have this problem, and I really need to talk about it to someone."

"Sure, you wanna go grab a hot dog?"

"Ok, will they even have any left?"

"Sure! It's early, there's no way they can already be gone."

As she walked absent mindedly through the crowded corridor with Zell, she wondered if it was really a good idea to tell him about Squall's proposal. Maybe it would be better to wait a while for someone who wouldn't give her, well, such an inappropriate reaction. But then again, maybe he wouldn't maybe he wouldn't make a huge scene, maybe he would be totally calm about it… what was she thinking? This was Zell for Hyne's sake! No-one could ever get a calm reaction out of him, no matter how hard they tried. He was her friend, sure, but he was really good at pissing her off, usually without even realising it.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN _SOLD OUT?!_"

"I mean finished, all gone, nothing, no more, all eaten. Zell, you of all people should know how quickly they go!"

"But…but…"

"Sorry."

"Oh man, but we got here early!"

Zell sighed in defeat as the cafeteria lady shrugged and turned her back on him. He trudged slowly away towards the tables followed by Rinoa who was struggling to contain her laughter at her friends _devastating _experience.

"So what did you want to talk about, it better be something good 'cos I need some major cheerin' up" he sniffed.

It was actually quite pathetic in a way, how he always got wound up over suchsmall things. He was likean immature child, trapped in a 20 year olds body and trying desperately to get out. Still it was a good source of entertainment for her, most of the time.

"Well, you know when me and Squall went to dinner about three weeks ago…well…**don't** overreact or get all happy because I haven't given him an answer or anything…well, he kinda, mighta asked me to maybe....marry him?

"WHOA!!! Why the hell haven't you decided yet?! You guys are meant for each other!"

This was exactly what she was hoping he wouldn't do. His reaction was so loud that most people in around them were staring, no doubt they would be eaves drooping on the rest of their conversation. Rumours would be flying around Garden within a few hours. She knew it was a big mistake even considering telling him, especially in such a public place.

"I'm not entirely sure, I guess it might be because I've been so, well, free spirited all my life, and this is such a huge deal! I'll be making an enormous commitment to him. That reminds me, the ring was also pretty enormous! Anyway, I don't know if I'm ready for that kind of commitment. I mean, one day I might get sick of it and want a divorce, not because I don't love him, because I do, but because I would hate the commitment!"

"Well, can you ever picture you guys being a happy married couple?"

"Well yeah, sure. I guess but it would take me a long time to get use to the lack of freedom thing."

"You know it's not like Squall is gonna tie you up in a teeny box and feed you bread and water every day if you get married. You'll still be able to do what you want, you'll just be making a commitment which is to love Squall for the rest of your life and love your kids too n stuff like that."

"Zell! I haven't even completely made up my mind yet and already you're thinking about kids?! ...But you do have a point, I shouldn't be so scared about this, it's a change for the better right?"

"Exactly! Now you're getting' it!"

"Yeah, thanks Zell!"

"No probs!"

In an attempt to look cool he winked at her leaning back on what he thought was a chair, but what was, in a not so convenientand surprisingly cruel reality, actually a stool.

Rinoa burst into a fit of laughter, along with the rest of the students currently eating in the cafeteria who had heard the loud crash.

"THANKS FOR THE HELP GETTING UP!!!" he yelled at her as she walked away, still in fits, leaving ared faced Zell lying on the flooron top of his 'chair'.

It wasn't so bad asking Zell for advice, Rinoa was just dreading the rumours she would soon be hearing, walking toward the library, she could already hear one girl, who had run out of the cafeteria just before her, gossiping to her friends. All she could make out was something about Selphie proposing to Squall, then Rinoa having a one night stand with Irvine on the same night. How did people come up with this stuff?! It was ridiculous!

* * *

"Heeeey! What about that one? Or that one? Ooh! What about that?" 

"Nah"

"Squall! C'mon make up your mind! We've been in here almost 3 hours!!"

"Correction, four hours."

"That's even worse!!! Oh hey, what about that one? He'd _love_ that one"

"Just as much as he's going to _love_ those adorable fluffy bear slippers you got him?"

"Hey! That's mean! He is going to like them, and for your information they are MONKEYS!!!"

"Whatever. What about that?"

Squall pointed to a plain gold medallion ring.

"I could get that picture of his Grandfather engraved on it."

"Wow Squall, I never knew you could be so…thoughtful."

"Don't get used to it."

"I won't, but I bet Rinoa has! Oh yeah, did she give you an answer yet?"

"No. I'm starting to thing that I should take it back. It's pretty obvious her answer is no."

"Squall! How can you think like that?! She _will_ say yes, it's just going to take a bit of time. It's a pretty big decision you know!"

"I guess. But she has had a lot of time already."

"Want me to talk to her? Maybe she just needs a little encouragement?"

"Selphie, you're not even supposed to know, if I hadn't left the ringon my deskthen no-one would know yet. In fact, why were you going through my desk?"

"You were taking a long time in that stupid meeting. But you're glad I know, right? You need some support from someone, just in case she says no… Oh! But she won't!" Selphie added after realising what she just said.

"Uh huh...whatever." Squall walked towards a sales assistant at the back of the shop.

"Um, excuse me, could I get a picture engraved on this?"

"Certainly sir, do you have the picture with you? Also you will need to fill out this form."

"Yeah here it is, oh, do you have a pen?"

"Certainly."

"Heeey! You don't carry that picture round with you everywhere, do you? 'Cos that's kinda creepy."

"No, you don't really think I had that idea spontaneously. I thought of getting a ring engraved ages ago, which is why I have a copy of the picture with me."

"Well if you already knew what to get him then why have you been dragging be around Deling for the past four hours?!"

"Because I enjoy your company."

"That had better not have been sarcasm I just…."

"Sir the ring will be ready for collection on Friday, or we could have it delivered to you?"

'_Heeey! What a rude, snobby man! I was in the middle of talking. Hmph.'_

"I'll have it delivered."

"Certainly sir, please fill out this form."

'_Why do I have to fill out so many damn forms? Can't he just have given me one?! Bastard.'_

Squall sighed as he filled out yet another form. If he was given just one more that guy might as well start digging his own grave. He couldn't believe he was going to so much trouble for Zell. All he got from Zell for his birthday was some CD of a hip hop band he had never heard of in his life. Still it was better than the fluffy lion slippers from Selphie; apparently it was _'an addition to his Griever stuff.' _Where was she getting these slipper things from anyway?!

* * *

Quistis Trepe stormed along the stony path. She was in a terrible mood. Everyone had been given tasks to complete in preparation for Zell's party. Everyone had their part done at least a week in advance, which she was extremely happy about. But two days ago a dark cloud came and rained on her image of Zell's party going totally to plan. Irvine Kinneas was sailing on top of that cloud. 

He had to be 'Mr. Cool and relaxed' which meant he forgot he had ever been asked to get a band, but apparently they just cancelled. He was such a terrible liar and he was seriously pissing her off. He had been given one job. ONE DAMN JOB and he couldn't even do that. It wasn't as if it was anything particularly hard! He just had to find a band, any band at all and he failed miserably. He hadn't even tried. Apparently they cancelled, coincidently; this happened right after Quistis had reminded him of his task. His exact words were,

'What band…? Oh right, um yeah they…um…cancelled? Yeah! They were so rude! I never had time to find one, Oh! Ahh, I mean find another one! Hah hah! Tragedy isn't it? But I'm sure we'll get one.'

She was sick of him. If he wasn't Selphie's so-called boyfriend she would have seriously hurt him by now. But at the moment, the most she could do was scream at him, so loud, in fact that she would have beat Fujin in a screaming match hands down.

"IRIVINE KINNEAS!!! YOU ARE A BLOODY MORON! WE HAVE BEEN LOOKING FOR A BAND FOR THE PAST TWO DAYS!!! WE'VE SEARCHED THROUGH NEARLY EVERY PLACE WE KNOW!!! WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?! YOU SAID YOU'D GET IT SORTED WHEN I ASKED YOU IF YOU WANTED TO DO IT!!!"

"Chill Quisty! I got a band, they just cancelled…"

"Chill? CHILL?! YOU WANT ME TO CHILL WHEN YOUR STUPID BAND CANCELLED 5 DAYS BEFORE ZELL'S PARTY?! HE IS EXPECTING A BAND YOU KNOW! AS WELL AS THAT I HAD TO MAKE UP AN EXCUSE SAYING THAT I WAS WITH A GUY, TO XU, SO SHE WOULDN'T BE ABLE TO TELL ZELL THAT YOU'RE A MORON AND LOST THE BAND!!! OR SO YOU SAY, BUT I DOUBT THERE EVER WAS ONE!"

"Hey, hey, Quisty, don't doubt my manly charm! I'll get us a band. Don't worry, in fact I know this great band, they're called..."

"ABSOLUTELY **NO** ALL GIRL BANDS."

"Huh?! Why not? Some guys, like me, are actually looking for a date! So Zell could be too! It could be like and extra birthday present!"

"OH, YEAH! I FORGOT, SELPHIE JUST VANISHES INTO THIN AIR WHENEVER YOU FIND A GIRL IN A LOWER CUT TOP!!!"

"Selph…Oh, right, um, yeah, ah, hah hah! Um, oh wow I feel drowsy, yeah! Um I…"

He was immediately interrupted by the sharp, stinging pain of Quistis' whip whacking the back of his knee, causing him to buckle as he watched Quistis storm off down the road. She could be really scary when she was angry.

"Ow, HEY QUISTY WAIT UP!!! HELP!! MY LEG!! Ow shit! YOU DIDN'T HAVE TO HIT ME THAT DAMN HARD!!"

"IRVINE KINNEAS YOU ARE NOW A MORON _AND_ A WIMP! THAT WAS LIGHT!!!"

'_Dammit, I'll show her. I'll get up by myself, and then I'll find her a damned boy band. The way she acting she NEEDS a date. That's why she won't let me get a girl band; she wants some dumb baby-faced boy band member boyfriend._

_I guess she does need some romance in her life more than me. I mean I do have Selphie, she's cute n all, but does she have to play hard to get ALL THE FRIGGIN TIME?! But she wants me. She totally wants me. I am sooo slick and manly. Oh yeah. She wants me, and she could have me if she wasn't so caught up in that damn hard to get thing!!! But still, I know she can't resist me. My athletic body, long ponytail, smooth skin, great features. Oh yeah she totally can't resist me.'_

"Irvine, seriously, I doubt the pain in your leg was enough to stop you speaking for the last ten minutes!"

"Huh, wha…? Ten minutes?"

'_Was I really thinking about myself for ten minutes? Damn I'm vein.'_

"Alright I'm all better now, no thanks to nurse Quisty."

"I could have left you whimpering on the road for a lot longer than ten minutes."

"You couldn't leave poor defenceless ol' Irvy all alone without any female company for more than ten minutes, _could you?"_

"I'd love to, and I hardly call being armed with a gun 'defenceless'."

"At least I didn't shoot any of my friends with it."

"Shut up. You still need to find a band, remember?"

She then ran most of the way to Deling, dragging a limping, quite pathetic looking Irvine behind her. Ignoring most of his complaints and answering the rest by running faster, they eventually reached Deling, where Irvine finally said something worthwhile.

"Hey y'know there's probably a lot of amateur bands around the Shopping Arcade, you wanna go look there. Um, I'm not coming, I'll be in the hotel if you want me, I don't think I can go much further with my broken bones."

"Well that's just too bad. You got us into this mess and you're _going_ to get us out no matter how bruised you are, hey, isn't that Squall and Selphie over there?"

"OW! Stop dragging me everywhere Quisty! Take pity on an injured man!"

"SELPHIE!!! SQUALL!!! Wait up!"

"HEEEY! Quistis! Irvine! What are you doing here?"

"Mr. 'Manly Charm' here lost the band!"

"Irvy! How could you…Heeey! Maybe we could perform!!! Like we did in FH!!! Well, except no tap dancing. Squall, what do you think?"

"I think that you two should work on it yourselves, I have better things to do than sort out someone else's mess."

Selphie gave Irvine a small peck on the cheek before she and Squall went off though she was wondering why he looked so disappointed, and why he was limping. She turned to Squall who was already making his way back to the station. Just before they got onto the train, he said something quietly to her.

"Selphie, I changed my mind. I want you to talk to Rinoa for me."

* * *

**Author's Notes:** Okay, this is my first ever fan fiction thingy (That I wrote, not submitted):) Sooo please forgive me if anything dragged on or whatever. If anyone has suggestions on how I can make it better then please tell me, I think I need some help on this! So R & R!!!! 


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't own Square or anything associated with it.

Author's Notes: Some parts in this chapter are kind of disturbing. I don't know if it's enough to be rated R though.

* * *

It was a quiet night, half a mile out of Deling. The sky was a gothic shade of black, not a cloud in sight. Thousands of glimmering stars embellish the darkness. And the moon, the moon is at it's fullest, grey with an almost silver tint.

A long road stretches out across the land. Maybe eleven or twelve cars are driving along the road all in different positions, and travelling in different directions. One car in particular, seemed to be moving at quite a slow pace.

"Squall, it's already 10pm! Can't you go an _ickle _bit faster? PRETTY PLEASE?" Selphie yawned as she made yet another plea for Squall to drive faster on their way home from Deling.

"...Whatever. You drive if I piss you off so much." Squall pulled over, put on the brakes and stepped out.

"ALRIGHT!!! Tee-hee!" Selphie grinned at Squall who rolled his eyes and walked round to the passenger seat.

"Here we go!" Selphie yelled as she pulled the car into the wrong gear. She began to drive unsteadily but as she sped up she drove slightly smoother, although she failed to move in a straight line.

"Great driving." Squall mumbled sarcastically. "Do you even own a licence?"

Selphie took her eyes off the road to give him a dirty look. Squall ignored her, he glanced forward and- "SELPHIE!!!"

The two cars collided at 70 miles per hour. The other car contained only one passenger, a middle-aged man on his way home from work, desperate to see his wife and two children. The man's car tumbled sideways off the highway and into a small ditch. A few seconds later the engine exploded, a great ball of fire burned out into the night sky. The man was killed instantly.

The car that contained Squall and Selphie however, had swerved into a barrier on one side of the road. The side that hit the barrier was Squall's side. Selphie hit her head on the window, it was bleeding and although she was still conscious, her vision was blurred. Confused about what had just happened, she shoved the car door open and crawled out. "SOMEONE! PLEASE HELP US! OH HYNE....please help us...." She screamed and was shaking violently as she choked on her words, her head still bleeding and tears were streaming from her eyes, distant headlights approached the scene and as they did, she fell down and blacked out.

* * *

_'So, this is it. My final decision. I'm going to say yes. Wow...this is so exciting! Imagine what everyone will say. I hope they'll all be happy for us. I wonder what kind of wedding we'll have?'_

10pm. Rinoa lay on her back in her dorm room. It was a quiet night in Balamb, she could hear crickets chirping outside. She gazed out at the round silver gem adorning the night sky.

_'Hmph. Not so beautiful when you're close up, that's for sure.'_ She thought whilst recalling The Lunar Cry all those years ago.

Dismissing those memories, she closed her sparkling cocoa brown eyes, thinking, hoping that Squall would be happy when she finally gave him her answer.

_'Maybe...maybe he'll smile for me.'_

She smiled as she drifted off to sleep. Her dream however was not as pleasant as she would have hoped that night.

_Rinoa looks around and smiles. She is in the flower field outside the orphanage. Crouching down, she picks a small flower and admires it for a moment when suddenly, the flower melted and turned red. Blood red._

_Rinoa jumped up and shrieked, the blood dripping from her fingers. Slowly, the entire field began to melt and turned into a sea of blood. She runs around desperately looking for help. Finding nothing, she gives up and falls to the crimson ground. Suddenly, something grabs Rinoa's wrist and pulls her down head first._

_She then found herself on the balcony, where she first kissed Squall. The blood from the flower field seemed to have disappeared, although she hadn't fully taken in her surrounding. Looking to her right, Squall was there, only this time, he wasn't smiling. He was crying. She gasps, he was crying tears of blood. _

_Rinoa reached out towards him, but he faded into darkness. Soon everything was dark, and Rinoa was alone._

_She screamed, but no sound was made. There was no-one to help here. _

Rinoa gasped as she woke up with a start. Sweat dripped down her forehead. She looked around the dark room breathing heavily. She put her head in her hands with worry.

She knew something was wrong.

* * *

The next morning, Xu was pacing around on the third floor. _'Squall is late. What's going on? Squall is never late.'_

_ring- ring ring- ring_

The phone ringing makes Xu jump. Letting out a sigh, she calmly answers.

"Balamb Garden, Xu speaking. How may I help you?"

"Ma'am, last night we found one of those SeeD vehicles on a road near Deling. The passengers were involved in a car accident. We identified the two as Squall Leonhart and one Selphie Tilmitt." A gruff voice replied.

Xu's eyes widen and she gasps. "Oh my, a-are they O.K.?"

"Both were admitted to Deling city hospital. They were driving carelessly at high speeds. The man in the other car was killed. We're still examining his body and due to the extent of the burns, we haven't been able to identify him yet. Could you send someone over here? There is a small amount of paperwork to be dealt with. I don't think either of the victims are in a state to see to it."

"Um....Yes, o-of course. Um...I'll be there right a-away. Thank you, good-bye." Xu stutters. Still in shock, she hangs up.

Xu frowns for a moment and walks over to the intercom microphone. "Quistis Trepe, please report to the bridge. I repeat. Quistis Trepe, please report to the bridge."

Xu plugs in the coffee machine, making two. One for Quistis and one for herself. A few moments later Quistis walks in.

"Xu, what is it? I have a class." She pauses as she sees Xu. "What's wrong? You look so pale." Quistis walks quickly towards Xu takes the coffee from her and pulls out a chair.

"I-I need you to take c-care of Garden for a-a while."

"Why? What happened?"

"Squall an-and Selphie, I don't know how...th-they were involved in a c-car accident. I need to see them and, p-paperwork. Uh, l-lots of paperwork..."

"Oh my goodness. No, I'll go, you're in no state to do this. I mean, Hyne, you're shaking. I'll round up Zell and the others. I'll go with them."

"O-oh, O.K...I'll, um...I'll s-stay here then..." Xu takes a large sip of her coffee and splutters as she almost chokes on it.

"Take care, Xu." Quistis walks over to the intercom and tells Zell, Irvine and Rinoa to meet her in the parking lot. She then tells her class to go to the training centre for the rest of the period.

Quistis leaves Xu alone and speed walks to the parking lot, passing her confused class on the way.

One girl runs up towards Quistis. "Instructor Trepe! What's going on?" She asks whilst walking briskly beside Quistis, trying to keep up.

"I have some business to attend to, you will have a substitute for the rest of the week. Stay in the training centre, Instructor Montoya is there with another class, tell him I sent you all and he is to take you for the rest of the period. After that, two of you go to the third floor and ask Xu for the next arrangement. Understood?" By now, Quistis and the small girl have reached the entrance to the parking lot.

"Um...I think I got it." The girl replies, sounding somewhat confused.

"Good. See you next week."

Quistis walks off as the girl scratches her hear and runs back to her class.

"Hey! Quistis! 'Sup? We got a mission or somethin'?" Zell raises his hand for a high five as Quistis enters the parking lot, but Quistis ignores him.

"Squall and Selphie are in Deling City hospital. Late last night, they were involved in a car crash." Quistis informed them.

Rinoa gasps as her eyes water. Irvine catches her quickly as she stumbles. "I knew it. I knew something happened. Oh Hyne." Rinoa bites her lip and tries to stand up straight.

"So, we going down there now?" Zell asks. Finding the keys to a SeeD van.

"Yes, we only have to fill in paperwork, but I'm sure we all want to stay there for a while with Squall and Selphie, correct?" Quistis raises an eyebrow, waiting for a response.

The three of them nod.

Irvine helps Rinoa into the van, followed by Zell. Quistis gets into the front and begins driving.

"Don't worry Rin. I'm sure they're fine. Trust me, they always are." Zell says in an attempt to comfort Rinoa.

* * *

Alrighty everyone! R & R. I'm not updating until I get at least...hmm...5 reviews! That's fair enough, right? 


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I don't own this game, or Square.

Authors notes: well, I didn't quite get to 5 reviews yet. but I really wanted to update. 10 reviews if you people want the next update though! heehee, enjoy!

* * *

The four of them, Quistis, Zell, Irvine and Rinoa walked into Deling City Hospital late on Wednesday night. Quistis strode in looking alert and professional, as always. Rinoa walked beside her, at the same pace, but she did not try as hard to conceal her dread at seeing what state Selphie and Squall were in. Irvine and Zell walked slowly behind the two girls. Zell yawned and Irvine took a deep breath before pacing up to the reception.

"We're here to see Selphie Tilmitt and Squall Leonhart. Please could you tell us what rooms they're in?" Irvine inquired.

"I'm going to need some identification, if you don't mind." Irvine flashed his SeeD ID card and the others followed suit. The middle-aged woman at the reception nodded and typed in the names of the patients.

"Room 204, in the left wing. Oh, and some paperwork was left here for you."

"I'll take that, thank you." Interrupted Quistis.

"Alright everyone, let's go." Rinoa instructed and led the way towards the elevator.

After finding the right room, a nurse greeted them at the door. "Ah, you must be the representative's of Balamb Garden, correct?"

"Yes, that is correct. Can we go inside?" asked Quistis.

"Certainly, you'll find the girl awake." Irvine breathed a huge sigh of relief. "However," the nurse continued and Rinoa held her breath. "The other, Mr Leonhart, unfortunately slipped into a coma soon after the accident. We have him on life support, but there's no telling when...or if he will wake up."

Rinoa gasped and burst into tears. "No, no, no...this can't be happening! Oh Hyne." She shook as Zell held her for a moment, then helped her to sit down. Quistis took her turn to hug Rinoa and Irvine offered her a tissue.

"You know, he proposed." Rinoa pauses to blow her nose. "I was going to tell him today. I was going to say yes, and then...then this..." Rinoa wails and bursts into another flood of tears as Quistis continues to hold her.

"Shhh. It's O.K. Do you feel like going in there? I'll wait out here with you if you don't feel up to it." Quistis holds her by the shoulders and looks into her red and watery eyes, trying to find a way of comforting her.

"Yo, is it O.K. if we go in? You don't mind do ya Rin?" Zell looks at her.

"Um, actually, I want to go in too, get it over with right?" Rinoa replies.

Quistis, as always walks in first. Selphie turns slowly and grins when she sees them. Quistis looks at her sympathetically as she notices the large bandage wrapped around Selphie's head, and the large bruises on one side of her face. "Heeey." Selphie manages to greet them, feebly. "Selphie, how's my little cow girl?" Irvine walks up to her and pulls her into a tight embrace. Selphie sighs, "I can't help thinking of the other guy! His car...it was blown to smithereens, and...it was all my fault." Selphie lets out a long wail and buries her face in Irvine's jacket.

Rinoa approaches the only other bed in the room with caution. A veil is draped around it. She pulls it apart slightly and steps inside.

The others watch and wait in silence. Shortly, a small sob is heard from inside the cubicle. Quistis steps forward but Zell puts a hand in front of her. "Leave her be. She needs some time alone."

Quistis nods and sits on the chair next to Selphie's bed. Zell walks up to Selphie and presents her with a half eaten box of chocolates. "I-uh-um...Quistis got hungry...OW!" Zell yelps as Quistis whacks him around the back of his head and glares at him. "Fine..._I _got hungry." Quistis sits back looking satisfied and begins to busy herself with the many pages of paperwork the receptionist had handed her.

* * *

_Three hours later_

Quistis is asleep on the chair next to Selphie's bed. The mountain of paperwork has been completed and has fallen from Quistis' hand and is currently scattered across the wooden floor. Irvine is also sleeping and is sitting at the head of Selphie's bed. Selphie is curled up in Irvine's arms and has her head resting on Irvine's chest. Zell checked into Deling City Hotel 1 1/2 hours ago when he realised that all the beds and chairs were occupied.

Rinoa, however, has remained awake throughout the entire visit.

"Oh Squall," she whispers, "Come back to me, please?" She squeezes his hand tighter. "Don't do this to me, Squall." She closes her red and swollen eyes to prevent any more tears from falling. "Squall, I was going to say yes, you know?" She bites her lip. "Maybe you can hear me, if I say it loud enough?" Rinoa leans in towards his right ear. "Squall Leonhart, my answer is yes! Now, wake up." She sits up again to check if Squall has reacted. Nothing. Rinoa sighs and rests her head on his chest. "Wake up soon Squall." Rinoa closes her eyes and drifts off to sleep.

A few minutes later, Quistis wakes up. She sees the paperwork on the floor and notices that Zell is missing. She sighs and begins to clear up. When she is done, she takes the elevator to the reception desk. "I'd like to leave this here for the Deling City Forensics to pick up. Also, this pile is for the Deling City Police Department." She hands the two piles of paperwork to the receptionist and then asks, "Have you seen a short blonde man pass through here lately?"

"You'll have to be a little more specific than that I'm afraid." The receptionist looks sleepily at Quistis.

"He has a large tattoo on one side of his face. Is that specific enough?" Quistis says, slightly spitefully.

"Are you one of the seed's?" Mocks the receptionist.

"We are SeeD's, if you don't mind." Quistis replies through gritted teeth.

"Whatever you say flower girl." The receptionist smiles.

"ALRIGHT WENCH! YOU AND ME, OUTSIDE, RIGHT NOW!!!"

The receptionist laughs and leans towards a microphone, "Security to the reception desk please."

"Dammit!" Quistis curses as she spots 2 bulky looking security guards coming towards her and in contrast to her usual professional style, runs away with her arms flailing and screaming, "I'LL GET YOU, CHICKEN WUSS!!!"

Ironically, when she gets outside, she is met by Chicken wuss....ah...I mean Zell.

"YO, Quis! 'Sup? The hell?!" Zell is surprised as he watches Quistis resume her running. Spotting the reason why, he runs after Quistis. "Quis! We can take these guys! C'mon!"

"Zell, shut up and run will you?" Quistis pauses to instruct Zell in a patronising tone.

* * *

Xu sits alone in Squall's seat, in Squall's office. Picking up a bottle of Absinthe, she begins to pour her 11th shot.

_'hmmmm......' _Xu thinks quietly to herself, _'aaaah! I see....' _"AAHAHAHAHAHA!!! YES!!! heeheehee!" Xu exclaims in her drunk state. She stands up suddenly and knocks over a lamp. "Whoopsie! heehee!" Grinning, Xu climbs up on top of Squall's desk and begins to recite a slurred speech to an audience of green fairies.

"AHEM, (hic) I would like to thank you all (hic) for flying here today. I wanna announce that (hic) in Squally's absence (hic) I have voted myself as the (hic) Queen of Balamb Garden! (hic)" Xu bows as the fairies all clap for her. Being so drunk, it's only natural that when Xu takes her bow she over balances and tumbles to the floor. "OWWW (hic)" She wails.

"Now...where's that innercom...intercon...intrecond...ah, WHATEVER" Xu looks around and stumbles towards the intercom microphone. "Oop! is this thingy on? Heeeelloooooo?" her voice echoes around garden and wakes up most of the students, sleeping in their dorms. "Ummm.....NIDA! oh Neeeddaaaaaah! (hic) come up here!!! there's a few people (hic) I would like you to meet!" She nods towards the green fairies who cheer.

Xu leaves the microphone off the hook and groans. "Oooh, I don't feel so good...NIDA!!!" Xu jumps up and stumbles as Nida walks in looking sleepy.

"What in Hyne's name are you doing Xu? Do you realise it's 4am?"

"Weeell then Nidy, I'm (hic) afraid, you're in need of some of the green stuff! right, my fairy crew?" Xu tugs on Nida's arm and pulls him towards the desk, which she falls onto, pulling Nida down with her. "Xu!" Xu proceeds to shove him away. She gets up from the desk and puts her hands on her hips. "Nida...whatever you surname is...are you (hic) trying to get me into bed with you? (hic)" Nida scratches him head. "No, but I do think you need to go to sleep." he replies cautiously. "AHA! Sooo...that's you game is it? WELL (hic) you should know that I'm already asleep anyway." With that, Xu slumps across the desk and begins snoring.

Nida looks at Xu and frowns, "Green stuff? What the hell is she talking about?" He then notices a half empty bottle labelled absinthe, which has some sort of green liquid spilling out of it. "Well, seeing as there's no-one else here..." Nida takes a large swig from the bottle. "hmm...not half bad. AARGH!!!" Nida screams as he spots a small green fairy woman standing on his shoulder. The fairy screams back at Nida, then giggles. Nida picks up the bottle of Absinthe, drinks down the rest of it and holds the empty bottle like a club. "COME AND GET SOME!" The fairy shrieks as Nida swings the bottle at her. "Oooh, you're pretty fast little green thing. BUT NOT FAST ENOUGH!" Nida continues to swing the bottle and eventually hits himself on the head and is knocked out cold.

* * *

That last part was seriously random...R & R!!! let's get to 10! I'm so upset, no-one's been reviewing...WAAH!!! 


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I don't own Square or anything associated with Square. I don't own the Whole Nine Yards either, I just used a small part of the script. I also don't own any of the companies or products mentioned here.

We got to 9 reviews! That's quite pathetic considering I said 10 and also how much effort I put into this...Oh well.

Big thanks to everyone who has been reviewing! I have a few answers to some questions I've been asked.

FloralBlackMoon, The "green things" Well, when you drink Absinthe, you hallucinate and see green fairies. Apparently. It was a totally random thing and won't have ANY significance to the story...probably. However I do apologise, that part was very badly written and I have edited it somewhat.

Almasy11, I am a Dudette.

That's all, and Happy New Year to everyone reading this!

* * *

A cool breeze blankets Rinoa as she starts to stir. The window is open and two small birds are singing just outside, on the branch of a cherry tree. She sits up slowly and presses her hand lightly to her mouth, trying to suppress a yawn. Rubbing the sleep out of her eyes she takes in her surroundings. She is no longer in the hospital ward, Squall is nowhere to be seen. She is, in fact, in a rather large room with floral wallpaper. There are two single beds lined up against the wall. On a small bedside table next to Rinoa, she spots an envelope. She picks it up and reads the neat handwriting 'Rinoa.' Rinoa slowly peels open the flap of the envelope and extracts the folded piece of paper inside. It reads,

'Rinoa,  
Did you sleep well? Irvine had to carry you here, you were so fast asleep. I would have accompanied him, but something came up when I went to drop of the paperwork, nothing you need to worry about though. Squall and Selphie are still at the Hospital, in pretty much the same situation as yesterday. Selphie is more cheerful after seeing us though. By the way, you are in the Deling City Hotel, Room 203. We're sharing a room, as are Zell and Irvine, room 207. It's just opposite our room. If the time at the moment is 10am to 1pm, then the three of us will be somewhere in the Shopping Arcade. After that we will be back at the hotel. At 4 we will all go and visit Squall and Selphie.

See you soon,

Quistis.

x x x

Rinoa folds up the letter and places it back on the bedside table. She remains in her bed whilst scanning the brightly lit room for a clock. Failing to spot the small digital clock on top of the TV, she drags herself out of bed and stumbles towards the bathroom. As she enters, she lets out a small gasp. The bathroom is almost as big as the main room, it is painted a bright white. A small fountain has been placed in the middle. In one corner is a large Jacuzzi, which is built on a small platform. Rinoa guesses that there is probably enough space for around 3 or 4 people. On another side of the bathroom are two small cubicles housing toilets. Finally, apart from the sink, there is a large bathtub with a vast collection of bath fizzes, soaps, powders, salts, you name it, it's probably there. In addition to those luxuries, a phone for room service hangs near the door and a huge widescreen TV is built into the wall, with waterproof remotes in various places around the room.

"Oh my – Quistis got the big suite!" Rinoa lets out a giggle and runs towards the bath. She allows it to fill up as she examines the exotic bath products. Unable to decide, shebeginspouring in half a bottle of everything.

A few minutes later the bath is overflowing, which has soaked Rinoa's clothes which she left, scattered on the floor. There are bubbles, spilled bottles and plastic wrappers that once covered the bath fizzes all over the floor. Rinoa giggles uncontrollably whilst flicking through the channels. Eventually she stops on a movie, The Whole Nine Yards. It's around 15 minutes into the film, but, with it being one of Zone's favourite movies, Rinoa has seen it too many times to count, so she knows what's going on.

"_Well, like virtually everything else that's wrong in my life, it all started with the little missus. See, back home her father and I ran a dental practice together."  
_

"_You're a dentist?"  
_

"_Afraid so."_

_  
"You suicidal?" _

The movie plays in the background as Rinoa sinks into the mountain of bubbles around her. A few seconds later she emerges again, her hair completely soaked, and continues to watch the movie.

"_Tulip?"  
_

"_No!"  
_

"_So you were saying…you're father-in-law?"  
_

"_Well, ironically he was a suicide."  
_

"_Stats don't lie." _

A light rap on the door surprises Rinoa, and even more water and bubbles spills out on to the floor. "Who is it?" Rinoa turns down the volume and leans out of the bath slightly so that she can hear a reply.

"Room Service."

_Oh right, my Pringles! _"Just a minute!" Rinoa calls out.

She steps out of the bath and slips on the wet floor. "WHOA!" she yelps. She groans as she picks herself up off the floor and walks carefully to get a bath robe before answering the door.

"Your Pringles, ma'am."

"Ooh! Thank you!" Rinoa grins as she takes the tray.

Rinoa frowns in confusion as the man continues to stand in front of her. "Umm...is there something you want?"

"Tip ma'am, it's custom to give a tip for service."

"Oh! My mistake" Rinoa runs out of the bathroom leaving wet footprints on the carpet. Searching through the piles of belonging scattered around the room, she finds Quistis' purse. Checking for money, she pulls out 500 gil. Then she takes a notebook and pen and writes 'I O U 500 gil, Rinoa x x x

"This enough?" Rinoa asks politely as she hands the money over to the stunned waiter.

"I...uuh...thank you, ma'am, most generous!" he grins and scurries out of the room.

Rinoa shrugs off the waiter's strange behaviour and walks back to her bath, "WAAH!" Rinoa shrieks as she slips for the second time. "Dammit." She groans under her breath, along with several other profanities.

She steps slowly back into the bath, letting the water engulf her. "Aaah..." She smiles and turns the volume of the TV back up.

"_All right, now don't expect too much. I'm not even sure if I'm going to be able to make contact with these people. It's not as if the Gogolak's have a 1-800 number or anything."_

_  
"I know you'll do what you can."_

Although this happens between a couple who hate each other, Rinoa's eyes water as she watches the woman on screen kiss the man. She switches off the TV and sniffs. "Oh, Squally!" She wails and bursts into a flood of tears. "WAAAHAAA!" she sniffs again and climbs out of the bath to drain the water.

Being careful not to slip this time, she puts on her bathrobe and trudges into the main room in search of a tissue. A second knock on the door interrupts her. "Yes?" she says, in between sniffs. "Rinoa, are you decent?" Quistis' voice is barely audible through the thick wooden door. "Pretty much, you can come in." Rinoa replies whilst trying desperately to wipe the tears from her eyes and de-redden her nose. The keycard machine outside bleeps and Quistis walks in, unloading three bags of shopping on to the bed. "Hey Rin." Quistis frowns, "Have you been crying?" Despite her best attempts, Rinoa realises her efforts to cover up her tears were hopeless. She sniffs again as her eyes water. Quistis hugs her tight while Rinoa's tears dampen her shoulder. Quistis pauses for a moment, "This may seem inappropriate, but, why do you smell like a scented soaps shop?" Against her current emotions, Rinoa manages a small laugh.

* * *

"YO! Check it out!" Zell grins as he brings out two bottles of Bacardi Breezer. He tosses a bottle to Irvine who, somehow, manages to catch the bottle in his cowboy hat. "Nice one bro!" Zell compliments as he pulls out a bottle opener.

"Hey, wanna see if there are any pretty ladies on the box, you know what I'm sayin'?" Irvine smirks as he switches on the TV. "Hell yeah!" Zell shouts as he jumps onto his bed. After flicking through several channels and adjusting the aerial somewhat, Irvine smiles "Hey! Hey! Look what I got!" Zell peers at the screen and flashes a big cheesy grin. Irvine takes a bow and lies on his bed. Strange noises are heard from the TV. Both of the gasp, and their eyes both widen. "Ooh...Aaah!" They both exclaim, "Huh?!" They then tilt their heads to one side in unison. "Oh..." Both men squint for a moment, "WHOA!"

Zell and Irvine continue this for a while, occasionally gasping in shock or grinning knowingly to themselves.

A quiet beep indicates the keycard has been used on their door. Both men are oblivious to this event until Quistis and Rinoa open the door and walk in.

"Hey, what are you guys up to?" asks Rinoa, all signs of her sadness have been covered up.

"WHOA!!!" Zell yells and simultaneously, he and Irvine stumble towards the TV in an attempt to cover up what they have been watching. In a streak of bad luck, they bump into each other and fall to the ground in a heap, leaving the TV directly in the Quistis and Rinoa's lines of sight. "Have you been watching...porn?" Quistis asks in a disapproving tone. "...together?" Rinoa adds, trying to suppress a laugh. As if the guys weren't in enough of a mess.

"I-uh-well-um-ya see...umm...Irvine, I think you can take it from here!" Zell takes the opportunity to scamper off and hide his shameful self in the bathroom.

Irvine flashes his charming smile, "Can I offer you ladies an alcoholic beverage?"

'_Yeah! Good plan Irvine! Get 'em drunk and they wont remember a thing!"_ Zell thinks as he presses an ear against the bathroom door to eavesdrop on the conversation.

"Actually," Quistis dismisses his offer. "It's time for us to visit Selphie and Squall. I'm sure your darling Selphie will be so happy to know what you boys have been up to."

'_Damn.' _The two men mentally curse in unison.

* * *

Quistis and Rinoa run into the hospital together, giggling like school girls. Zell and Irvine trudge a good distance behind them, both are hanging their heads, either with shame or embarrassment. Maybe even both.

Quistis and Rinoa proceed to burst into Selphie and Squall's room, now laughing maniacally, only to be met by the stern glare of a nurse giving Selphie her pain medication. They both hold back their laughter with a great amount of difficulty until the nurse leaves the room. The moment the door closes, both girls rush towards Selphie and collapse next to her bed in hysterics.

"What are you doing?" Selphie leans over the side of her bed looking slightly puzzled by their out of character behaviour. Especially Quistis.

"Zell..." Rinoa manages, gasping for air.

"Irvine..." Quistis adds, now trying to catch her breath and stifle her laughter.

"Were watching..." Rinoa continues.

"Porn..." Quistis giggles whilst she says it.

Then both girls stand up, straighten themselves out and, just as Irvine and Zell slump in, scream "TOGETHER!!!"

Selphie's eyes widen and she stares in bewilderment and the two men standing near the door, both of them have turned red with humiliation. Selphie turns back to her two friends standing near her bed with a beaming smile on her face. The three of them burst into fits of laughter...again.

Zell and Irvine exit the room, who could blame them for wanting to?

A few minutes later the laughter has died down and the girls are in casual conversation. "So, how are you today?" Quistis asks Selphie.

"Well, I think I need a drink, I've been laughing too much!" She replies, her voice sounding quite hoarse. Rinoa stands to get Selphie a glass of water whilst she makes a sarcastic comment, "Selphie, laughing too much? Now there's something unusual." She walks back and hands Selphie the glass.

Selphie smiles softly as she takes a large gulp of water. "Well anyhoo, I had my bandages changed this morning, there's a really big wound! Teehee I might get a huge scar like Squall...oh." Selphie pauses and looks at Rinoa apologetically when she realises it wasn't the best idea to mention Squall with him being in his current state.

"It's O.K Selphie. Actually I had an idea. I'm going to go and find someone to talk to about it." Rinoa replies.

As if on cue, a nurse opens the door. "Hello girls, I'm just here to check on Mr. Leonhart. I won't be a minute." She smiles and walks towards Squall's bed.

Rinoa turns to face Selphie and mouths 'one minute' she puts up index finger to indicate what she has said. Selphie never was good at lip reading.

Rinoa stands up and walks over to Squall's bed where the nurse is currently standing, reading his monitor and scribbling down figures. Rinoa observes what she is doing for a moment and when the nurse turns, Rinoa begins to speak, "Hi! Well, you know I was wondering, I was in a coma once, about four years ago, and I was taken to this place is Esthar and I was...um...fixed? Y'know..."

The nurse interrupts her. "Yes, I had heard about that. I know someone in Esthar in fact. You really shouldn't talk about that place so freely. I don't have anything against it but some people do and may judge you for it."

Her answer takes Rinoa slightly by surprise, "Oh, sorry well anyway as I was saying, couldn't you just do that for Squall?"

"I know all about what happened to you. The friend I have was in Lunar Base, his name was Piet, he told me everything. I'm sure you must have realised that it would be impossible to do the same for Mr Leonhart. Lunar Base was destroyed in the Lunar Cry, or don't you remember?"

The truth of it pierces Rinoa's heart like a dagger. A lone tear slides down her left cheek and she sits beside Squall. The nurse squeezes her shoulder in a comforting manner and leaves the room, but not before whispering something into Rinoa's ear.

Something which makes Rinoa look up suddenly at the nurse with disbelief.

* * *

Don't you just _love_ cliffhangers?heehee R & R! Next update is at 15 reviews! If you have ideas for the story feel free to say so! 


	5. Chapter 5

Eeep! Wow, never expected so many reviews so fast! Thank you guys loads! Especially Almasy11 and his taco craving roosters? I think...anyway...some guy called "Moe!!" left some stupid message. Please don't. If you do it again, I'm quite sure Almasy11 will set his roosters on you. Heehee, you gotta love those roosters!

I've decided to stop asking for reviews before updating because people keep saying I'm only writing for an ego boost or something like that. I'm not. I just saw some other writers doing it and thought it might be a good idea. I actually started writing this with no intention of ever putting it on a fanfiction site. Alrighty, back to the story!

* * *

It was 1 am on a cold, dark night. Thunder roared and rain pounded on the windows of Deling City Hotel. Zell and Irvine slept heavily in their beds. A game of monopoly, a pack of cards and several bottles of WKD and Bacardi had been scattered across the floor.

Irvine didn't really like monopoly, and Zell didn't really like Poker. But there was nothing else to do since both men had vowed never to watch porn again, well, at least not until they get out of Deling.

In the room opposite, room 203, Quistis Trepe was lying on the bed with her golden blonde hair in disarray. It was obvious to anyone that the storm had caused her trouble when she tried to sleep. She had only managed it because of the two lumps of cotton wool currently lodged in her ears.

The bed parallel to hers, that of Rinoa's, was empty. The sheets were bunched up at the foot of the bed as though whoever left it that way had been in a rush.

Don't worry readers, she isn't gone.

Rinoa Heartily is in fact 7 floors below her room. Currently sitting in the same bar where her mother, Julia, once played the songs Rinoa grew up with. Those songs were a mere memory to her now.

She sat at the bar with a small glass of red wine. In her hand, she holds a small scrap of paper which appears to have been folded, opened and re-folded a great many times. She was frowning whilst deep in thought. Could be due to the fact she spends all her waking hours with Squall. Or it could be caused by the much harsher reality that Squall can't spend his waking hours with her.

'_Squall...' _she sighs as she takes a large gulp of the wine. _'He may never wake up. What would I do if he didn't? He would never know how I felt. He would never know that I'm going to say yes to him.' _A tear slid down her pale cheeks._ 'This, would be the right thing to do, would it not? It might seem dodgy, but it's better than sitting around doing nothing, isn't it? If I don't do this then, Squall might become just a memory too.' _She unfolds the piece of paper once more and eyes it's content.

"Rough day?" Her head jerks up in surprise as the bar tender tries to start a conversation.

"You could say that." She replies, looking down at the paper again.

Sympathetically, the bar tender hands her a tissue, "Here, looks like you may need this." Rinoa smiles at him and gratefully takes the tissue.

"Why don't you go and see your boyfriend? No way a pretty girl like you could be single!" He refills her empty wine glass, "This one's on the house." He winks and walks away to serve another customer.

'_Yeah, go and see my boyfriend. Like it's that simple.' _She smirked at the irony of it.

* * *

"Wake up darlin' we're going down for brunch." Irvine whispered to Rinoa as she slept, slumped across her bed, still in her clothes from the day before.

Rinoa stirred slightly and tried to pull the covers over her.

"I don't think so!" Zell teased as he pulled the covers away from her. "If you want 'em, you're gonna have to get outta bed!"

"Urgh...Zell...My head hurts...go away..." She groaned as she tuned over, so she had her back to them.

"That's what we like to call a hangover." Quistis walked around the bed and knelt down so that they were face to face.

"Huh? How did you know I was in the bar?" She mumbled and buried her face in the pillow.

"How could I not?!" Quistis said in an accusatory tone, "You came in here at 4am. You were so loud it woke me up!" She moaned, "The first thing you did when you got back was run into the bathroom and regurgitate into the fountain." Quistis paused to see if Rinoa was taking any of this in. Noticing that she wasn't, she continued, almost shouting this time, "You then came back in here smelling of alcohol and vomit and then you passed out on your bed! That a good enough explanation?!"

"Nnggh...whatever..."

Quistis made a noise under her breath, one which could only be described as a growl. "You have 15 minutes to get your arse out of bed and get dressed. You may also want to brush your teeth in that time because your breath smells like a Marlboro's backside. Now, if you don't do exactly what I've just told you, we're going to leave without you. Right guys?" She looks to Zell and Irvine for support.

Zell scratched his head, "I think you're kinda scary..."

"Yeah, you're like the 'evil instructor' from that movie! Remember Zell?"

"There's no movie called the evil instructor you dumbass!" Zell frowned at the stupidity of his friend.

"Yeah there was! They - ohh! Now I remember! It was called the naughty instructor. I was watching it with this chick and..." Irvine stopped after he saw the disgusted looks he was being given by everyone else. Including Rinoa who had bolted out of bed in shock when Irvine had begun his little 'story'.

He blushed a deep crimson and rushed out of the room.

"15 minutes, Rin." Quistis reminds her as she and Zell follow Irvine out.

_15 minutes later_

Rinoa steps out of the hotel room in faded blue jeans which have 3 small horizontal tears around the front, and a black vest top which has small silver angel wings printed at the top left-hand corner.

"Incredible, you actually made it." Quistis commented with a hint of sarcasm in her voice.

Rinoa glared at her, which didn't have it's usual effect since her eyes were half closed due to the hangover.

Quistis laughed and linked her arm with Rinoa as they walked down to the elevator.

"O.K! Which floor?" Zell pointed his finger towards the buttons, ready to press.

"Basement. You've been to the restaurant plenty of times, you should know by now." Quistis responded.

"Alrighty...basement..." Zell appeared puzzled for a moment and proceeded to press the entire left row of numbered buttons.

"No way man, you got it all wrong." Irvine stopped him. "It's on this row...somewhere..." Irvine then pressed the entire right row of numbered buttons.

"What in Hyne's name do you think you're doing?! Basement is labelled 'B' not any of the numbers!" Quistis groaned as the elevator began to move.

"I think if you press the red button it cancels all the floors you've pressed." Rinoa said.

Zell reached forward and pushed on a large red button. "Wait! Not that one!" Rinoa yelled.

The elevator came to a sudden stop. "Man...you shoulda said which red button." Zell sighed.

"I didn't think I would have to! I mean, Irvine would have had the intelligence NOT to press the red button with 'emergency stop' written on it!" Rinoa practically screamed in her retaliation.

Quistis sighed. "We may be here for a while...Zell, press the butto - wait, I'll do it." She nudged Zell out of her way and tapped on the assistance button. A few seconds later a woman's voice came through on the intercom.

"Emergency Assistance, what seems to be the problem?"

"The main lift has come to a halt. Could you send someone to fix the problem please?"

_2 hours later, in the restaurant_

"Alright! I'll have three hot dogs, two portions of chips, the chocolate gat-ee-ay-ux"

"That's Gateaux, Zell." Quistis corrected.

"Right, Gato, then. I also want the choco-burger and Marlboro shake."

"Selphie would kill ya if she knew you were eating a chocobo." Irvine mumbled.

"What's she doesn't know can't hurt her right?" He grinned.

"Anything else, _sir._" The waiter asked as he scribbled down the remainder of Zell's order.

"Erm...better make it two Marlboro shakes!"

The waiter sighed and scurried back to the kitchen.

"Wow, I don't think that even Angelo eats that much..." Rinoa teased.

"Well, I'm a big boy ya know!" He winked.

"You're starting to sound like Rajin."

The four of them laughed together and Quistis and Irvine proceeded to engage in conversation, leaving Zell and Rinoa in silence.

'_Maybe now would be the time to tell someone...'_ Rinoa thought.

"Zell?" she whispered, not wanting the other two to over hear.

"S'up?" He turned to face her.

"You remember that nurse that was checking on Squall yesterday?"

"Yeah..."

"She told me, well, gave me something that I maybe get Squall out of the coma."

"What?!" Zell's voice began to get louder.

"Keep your voice down!" Rinoa snapped. "She gave me details of someone who can stop the accident from happening. Or something along those lines. I don't know how, though. But I want to see this person to find out!"

"Sound's kinda dangerous. You don't even know if you can trust this woman!"

"It's better than sitting around doing nothing! Look." Rinoa pulled out the crumpled piece of paper from her jeans pocket and handed it to Zell.

Zell took the paper cautiously and unfolded it. "Madame Ruche. East Centra. You'll know the place when you see it. She can help you and Squall." He looked back up at Rinoa. "Slightly vague, don't you think?"

"I don't care, I can't just sit around doing nothing! Come on Zell! I could do it all by myself...but I might not come back in one piece...then everyone would blame you!"

"Stop blackmailing me, you suck at it. I'll come, not because of your blackmail, but because I'm kinda curious too. Got it?"

Rinoa grinned and threw her arms around Zell. "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!!!"

"Yeah, yeah...so, when are we going?"

"Ok well, I was thinking, we go back to Garden tomorrow, so when we get back, we can take the Ragnarok straight to Centra, right?"

"Got it."

* * *

R & R please! Sorry this chapter took so long, I've been so busy with school work. I'll try to update faster next time, I have a clearer view of the plot now. YAY!


	6. Chapter 6

Zell and Rinoa walked through the gates of Balamb Garden in absolute silence. Both had a stern look on their face. One other student walked past them absent mindedly, he had better things to do than wonder why these two were leaving Balamb in the middle of the day.

Standing before the Ragnarok, Zell inputted a code to bring down the ramp leading inside. He paused and turned to her. "You sure 'bout this? Never too late to turn back."

"I'm sure." Came Rinoa's solemn reply, there wasn't a single trace of doubt in her voice.

"All aboard then." He motioned towards the entrance and followed Rinoa as she stepped inside.

"How long do you think this will take?" She frowned as she watched him securing the ramp.

"You know more about this than I do." He stood to face her. "Y'know, we could pay a visit to this nurse, get the full details, just so we know what kind of shit we're getting ourselves into."

Rinoa nodded and took the stairs up to the cockpit.

Several minutes later Rinoa was piloting the Ragnarok and Zell was navigating. "Welcome to Deling City!" Zell announced. "Fly her to that clearing over there."

Rinoa steered the Ragnarok to a small spot to the left of Deling. "Let's make this quick, Got it?" Rinoa said as she stepped off the Ragnarok.

"Roger."

It was early afternoon, Deling City was bustling with people. Rinoa and Zell pushed their way through the crowds occasionally throwing dirty looks at people who wouldn't get out of there way, and eventually made it to the hospital.

The two of them walked briskly up to the front desk. "Excuse me," The receptionist looked up at Rinoa. "I'm looking for a nurse here, her name is nurse Bridget."

"Nurse Bridget...I don't think there is anyone here by that name, one moment, I'll check our database for you." She smiled at Rinoa just before typing some information onto her computer. "Nope, no-one called Bridget. Are you sure you have the right name?"

"How is that possible? I saw her come to check on Squall...I read her name tag...I can't have gotten it wrong!" Rinoa turned to Zell for support. He shrugged in response. "Who's the nurse looking after Squall? Squall Leonhart."

Now becoming quite annoyed, the receptionist typed Squall's name into her computer. Looking slightly confused, she looked back up at Rinoa. "The nurse in charge of Mr. Leonhart is a man. I think he could be gay...BUT that isn't your business. Anyway, you can't have got his gender wrong. The only thing I can think of is that this _Nurse Bridget_ is faking her identity. I have no idea why someone would do that." She paused to scratch her head. "I'll get someone to look into it. Anyway, that's not something you should concern yourselves with. You can talk to Squall's real nurse if you wish?"

"No, It's O.k." Rinoa frowned. "Could I go and see Squall?"

"Sure thing, I'm sure you know the way." She smiles and gestured towards the lifts.

The two of them walked briskly towards the lifts. Rinoa glanced suspiciously over at Zell for a moment. "I think I'll press the button this time." She mumbled so that Zell could just about hear her.

The lift doors opened on the third floor of the left wing. The corridor was quite packed, there were a few people standing around talking to doctors, it was obvious what kind of news they had just received. Some cried, some smiled.

'_It's hard to understand sometimes why life is so cruel to some, yet kind to others.' _Rinoa thought to herself as she pushed down on the handle to Squall's room.

"Heeey you guys!" Selphie's eyes sparkled as she saw them walking in.

"S'up? We just came over to say hi, before me and Rin go and-OW!" Zell doubled over as Rinoa punched him in the stomach.

"You can't say anything!" She hissed in his ear.

"I just wanted to see Squall so bad!" Rinoa smiled sweetly in response to Selphie's confused look.

"Oky...ummm...are you O.k. Zell?" She tilted her head to one side as if it would give her a better view of her friend.

"Nggghhh...Hmmm...Ugggghhh..." He made several groaning noised as he slumped onto a chair near Selphie's bed.

Rinoa came over to hug Selphie and turned almost immediately to get to Squall. She sighed when she saw him, it really pained her to see him like this. She sat next to his motionless body on the bed. Reaching out her right hand, she gently stroked his cheek. It was warm, comforting. "We're going to get you out, me and Zell. We don't know how yet, but we will. I promise. Just hang in there, O.k.?" She whispered to him. "I heard that people in coma's can hear everything you say, even if they don't remember when they wake up." She smiled and leaned in towards him. "I love you Squall Leonhart." She sighed and stood up. Turning, she pushed the curtain aside and walked towards Selphie. "Me and Zell are going away for a bit, on a mission. But I'll see you soon, O.k.?"

Selphie smiled at her and opened her arms to embrace Rinoa. "Don't have too much fun without me!"

"Rin, we really gotta hurry this up." He looked at her with a sort of urgency. "See ya Selphie!"

Rinoa frowned and followed Zell as he sprinted out of the door. Just outside she grabbed his wrist and spun him around to face her. "Why are you in such a rush!"

Zell looked at her with the same urgency as before and blushed slightly before looking down again and mumbling something. "I really gotta pee..."

Rinoa looked slightly disgusted as Zell sped off to find the toilets.

_One hour later_

"Up ahead, there's Centra. Start steering to the right." Zell called out directions as Rinoa sat in the pilot seat.

Soon the Ragnarok was hovering over eastern Centra. Zell peered through the glass. "What are we meant to be looking for here anyways?" he asked.

"We'll know it when we see it...apparently."

After a while, the sky was turning a deep shade of crimson, the two of them were becoming tired.

Zell's head jerked up for the fourth time, it was becoming hard to stay awake. Suddenly, a small glimmer up ahead caught his eye. He stared at it for a while before realising that it had to be what they were looking for. "Rin! I see it, it's gotta be it man! Look, straight ahead, you see that sparklin' thing?"

Rinoa sat upright in her seat and squinted her eyes, trying to make out what it was. She smiled broadly and accelerated towards the mysterious place at full speed.

As they neared it, Rinoa slowed the Ragnarok down and stared at the place in awe. It was a small sort of cottage, surrounded by swirling lights. The lights seemed to be attracted to it as if it were some sort of holy place. The actual cottage in the centre was emitting a strange glow, neither of them could sense any kind of evil in it, yet it did not seem to be good either, balanced seemed to be an adequate word to describe it.

In silence, Rinoa landed the Ragnarok. The two of them exited and walked towards the foreign place. Zell held out a hand, stopping Rinoa from walking any further. "Would you look at this?" He gestured towards a large pile of glowing rocks on the ground and knelt down for a closer inspection. It was not a pile which had been placed randomly on the ground, the stones were in perfect symmetry. There was a large one in the centre, this was the one that glowed. Another four lay around it, one at the top, one at the bottom and two at each side. These four each had a different mark on it. It appeared to be some sort of ancient dialect. Neither of them could understand what it meant. In between each of the four rocks, three clear crystals were placed as if separating the larger four.

"Weird..." Zell muttered.

"Ignore it. It's getting late now, we'll have to make this as quick as possible." Rinoa paused to check her wristwatch. "7:45. If we make it back to garden by 9, hopefully no-one will get suspicious."

Zell stood up and nodded. They then resumed their walking towards the mysterious cottage.

As they neared, the sheer surrealism of the place finally hit them. Every detail of the place seemed supernatural. The place was surrounded by life. There were hundreds of animals, but these animals movements shocked them both. Some had completely stopped in their tracks, there was a panther frozen in mid pounce. A hummingbird flew past Rinoa's face in slow motion. Then there were plants, and trees all over the place. They were growing at an alarming rate. A small root sprouted up at Zell's foot, it then proceeded to grow as much as it would in several years, in the space of a few seconds. And as quickly as it was born, it shrivelled up dead.

"This place is really weird." Rinoa commented.

As they neared the centre, they both noticed that the swirling lights were all attracted to the cottage, more than anywhere else. Hundreds of them were gathered around there. The glow from the cottage seemed to be some kind of spiritual energy which pulled them all in, and they were mesmerised.

Rinoa looked to Zell for reassurance. He gave a small, tiredsmile and gestured his hand for her to enter first.

She walked nervously up to the door, knocked and waited impatiently for an answer.

"Enter my children." A woman's voice called from inside. Rinoa paused, she knew the voice, yet could not place it. She dismissed the thought and cautiosly pushed the wooden door open.

Inside was dark, save a small candle in the centre of a wooden table. The woman who seemed to live here sat in the shadows so that her face was hidden.

"What is it you want child?" She asked.

_'Well, she gets strait to the point.' _Rinoa thought. "I was told you could help me."

"Help you to do what exactly?"

"My friend slipped into a coma, I want him to wake up."

"Then let time run it's course."

"I'm afraid that he might not wake up."

"If that was the way it was meant to be, then you'll have to deal with it."

Rinoa looked slightly pissed off. "I was told you would help me, I didn't come all thyis way for some lonely old woman sitting in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by some kind of paranormal shit to waste my time! I have been through one helluva lot of grief, more than you could imagine and I want it to end!" Rinoa finished practically screaming.

"More than _I _could imagine?" the woman laughed mockingly "My dear child, do you even know who I am, or what this place is?" She waited for an answer.

"Does it seem to you like I do!" Rinoa spat back.

"I have been alive since the dawn of time! I am immortal, I have experienced more than you could ever even _begin_ to fathom. I have seen things which could chill your blood. I have felt things that could make you want to cease living. I have endured scenes of pure evil which could cause sheer terror in the hearts of every man, woman and child in Gaia. So don't tell me I don't know what _you _are feeling, dear child." She scowled.

Zell scratched his head and looked around nervously. Rinoa looked away in embarrasment, "I'm sorry." she whispered. "Please, tell me more about this place."

The woman regainedher calm. "This place is in a sense, immune to time. Time goes on normally around it, however inside the cosmic barrier surrounding this place time has no meaning. As you saw when you were walking here,hundreds of'balls' of time float around here. Each ball has a different time patternsome cause whatever is caught in it to speed up, slow down or stop completely. An odd side effect which occured during the creation of this place. But the overall effect I wanted to achieve came to be, so I don't mind the odd jumps in time. The time balls however is irrelevant. I simply wanted to clear up any confusion you have about that."

Rinoa interrupted her. "Why weren't we effected by the ball...things?"

"You were effected, you just didn't notice, how could you? If time is behaving oddly around you, it is impossible to tell that something is wrong with the timeyou are in. But as I said, that is irrelevant."

"Then what is relevant?" Zell's sudden words made Rinoa jump slightly.

"I can help you. But it is dangerous, you must have a lot of strength, physically and emotionally. You must be determined to achieve your goal. Are you?"

"I am." came Rinoa's solemn reply.

"I can give you a device which will send you back in time. You will be able to change the past, however, to change a current situation, what needs to be changed in the past is not always obvious, so think very carefully. If you do it wrong, the outcome may be dire."

"O.k." Rinoa still sounded determined as ever.

The woman extended a clenched fist attached to a gloved arm. In the candle light, she opened her fist to reveal a small device covered withthe same ancient symbology as on the rocks outside. "Twist the dial 360 degrees anti-clockwise for each day you wish to travel back.You cannot use this contraption to travel forwards in time, so be carefulwhat youchangebecause you will have to live it through. You can gofurther back from any point in time but remember, it only goes back in days, so if you want to go back to the same point in time twice,you have to wait for 24 hours to pass before youcan. Got it?"

"I think so." Rinoa reached forward and took the device from the woman's hand. "Thank you."

She turned her back and left, Zell following close behind.

* * *

Ok, well I do apologise for the delay, I've been so busy. I'm sorry! Please RR I haven't got very many for the last chapter and it's not very motivating when I think that people aren't enjoying my fic. But still, I do try. Also, you will notice there was MUCH less humor in this chapter. It's getting serious so expect less. Thanks!


End file.
